Ireland agrees to welcome five unaccompanied minors stranded in Malta

The Ireland government has offered to accept five migrants from Malta who were rescued in Mediterranean

He said that the minors would be welcomed to the country under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme

This comes after 49 migrants who were rescued on 22 and 29 December

DUBLIN, Ireland - The Ireland government has offered to accept five migrants from Malta who were rescued in the Mediterranean.

On his twitter page, the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said that Ireland will protect the five minors as a solidarity and humanitarian gesture. He said that the minors would be welcomed to the country under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

The minister also said that the children had been through a terrible ordeal before they were rescued in humanitarian search and rescue missions.

This comes after 49 migrants who were rescued on 22 and 29 December 2018. These migrants were stranded atsea for weeks while crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe. They were left stranded after Malta refused to allow the rescue ships to dock.

Malta said that the responsibility of the migrants was beyond their remit. However, the 49 migrants disembarked in Malta on Wednesday after a deal was struck with other EU member states.

According to the MaltesePrime minister Joseph Muscat, the deal that had been reached included a decision for eight countries to accept 131 of the 249 rescued migrants on the Island.